e-Learning and Innovation

This strand of the e-learning programme is exploring the use of innovative technologies to support learning. These innovative technologies include the use of wireless and mobile technologies such as games and ‘virtual world’ simulation software, voting devices, multi-media PDAs, 3G phones and stronger wireless networks. The work is looking at both the pedagogical challenges that arise for practitioners and the technological issues of deploying these technologies in institutions.

Mobile phones are now an essential part of life for many people, and particularly students. The benefits for students is that learning activities delivered to them via their mobile phone can be accessed anytime, any place, and has the potential to be tailored to their own needs. So how can institutions use mobile technologies to support teaching and learning? The innovations strand will be funding a study into what institutions are already doing to support mobile learning. The study will also look at the implications for the way people learn and how learning content is being developed for this new delivery medium.

Back in 1997 the Dearing Report recognised that institutions would need to design new learning spaces to accommodate students with their own laptops. A second aspect of the work of this strand will produce a set of guidelines for estates and senior managers on designing physical learning spaces for new technologies such as mobile technologies and voting systems. The guidelines will be based on a review of how these technologies are currently influencing design of classrooms, lecture theatres and other learning spaces. A small number of case studies with video clips will illustrate the issues of these systems for learning space design. Two publications titled ‘Guidelines for Effective Learning Space Design’ and ‘Innovative practice with e-learning’ are planned for the autumn 2005.

Future technologies

The team are planning a technologies future workshop to explore what technologies we will be using to learn with in five years time, and what impact that will have on how institutions and practitioners prepare. Details of this events will be available soon.

Projects are underway with key research labs to identify new technologies that are mature enough to pilot in institutions and to identify the organisational, technological and pedagogical issues that arise from using these technologies.

Gaming technologies and virtual/cyberworld simulation software are now highly ubiquitous and are part of life for many young people. There will be an aspect of work in the innovations strand looking at the use of these technologies in education and what the potential of these technologies might be for e-learning in the future.